The weakening of the Russian ruble at the beginning of 2014 added 0.5 percentage points to the consumer price inflation index (CPI), Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said Friday.
“The potential contribution of the ruble weakening, which took place in January–early February, to inflation we estimate at 0.5 percentage points,” Nabiullina said.
The central bank targets a 5.0% CPI this year. The Economic Development Ministry’s forecast is at 4.5–5.5% with a target guideline at 4.8%, although due to the falling national currency, the ministry plans to revise the outlook to 5.2–5.3%.
In 2013, the weakening of the ruble added 0.3–0.5 percentage points to inflation, which amounted to 6.5%.
“From the point of view of the current account operations, the ruble seems a bit undervalued,” she said.